Device for producing a mass of chocolate

ABSTRACT

A device for producing a mass of chocolate in continuous operation in which the starting ingredients for producing the mass of chocolate are first fed to a mixing and kneading device. The mixture produced in the device is then fed to directly coupled liquefying means for liquefying the mixture which is finally fed to a multiple worm conveyor in which the liquefied mixture is conveyed between and along the worms of the conveyor to effect enriching or refining and deliquefying or dehydration of the mixture. Degasifying means are associated with the conveyor for degasifying the mixture while passing between and along the worms of the conveyor.

United States Patent Ocker [$4] DEVICE FOR PRODUCING A MASS OF CHOCOLATE[72] Inventor: Herbert Ocker, beonberg, Germany [73] Assigneez- Werner &Pfleiderer, Stuttgart- Feuerbach, Germany [22] Filed: Nov. 18, 1970 [21]App1.No.: 90,621

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 731,483, May 23,1968,

abandoned.

[52] US. Cl ..99/236 CC [51] Int. Cl. ..A23g 1/10 [58] Field ofSearch..99/236 CC, 236 R, 23, 26, 134;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,591,979 7/1926 lfi'..99/23 2,004,009 6/1935 Moir ..99/23 2,070,558 2/1937 Beck 99/236CCX2,670,188 2/1954 Erdmenger ..259/104 51 Aug. 8, 1972 2,71 1,964 6/1955Wiemer ..99/236 CC 3,140,860 7/1964 McConnaughay ..2$9/95 X 3,215,19211/1965 Sollich ..99/236 CC X 3,285,582 11/1966 Hubnel' ..99/236 CC X3,357,836 12/1967 Beet: ..99/23 3,390,004 6/ 1968 Di Placido ..259/96 XPrimary Examiner-Walter A. Scheel Assistant Examiner-Arthur 0. HendersonAttorney-Bane, Baxley & Spiecens ABSTRACT A device for producing a massof chocolate in continuous operation in which the starting ingredientsfor producing the mass of chocolate are first fed to a mixing andkneading device. The mixture produced in the device is then fed todirectly coupled liquefying means for liquefying the mixture which isfinally fed to a multiple worm conveyor in which the liquefied mixtureis conveyed between and along the worms of the conveyor to effectenriching or refining and deliquefying or dehydration of the mixture.Degasifying means are associated with the conveyor for degasifying themixture while passing between and along the worms of the conveyor.

8Clains,4DrawingHgures PATENIEDMJ: a me SHEET 3 BF 3 Wu Wm #26 w" E B lE U" DEVICE FOR PRODUCING A MASS F CHOCOLATE The present application isa division of my copendin g application Ser. No. 731,483, filed May 23,1968, now abandoned.

The invention relates to a device for producing a mass of chocolate.

There are known devices for producing a mass of chocolate in whichmixers or the more economical continually operating kneading and mixingdevices such as two-shaft disc kneaders or worm conveyors are used forthe first mixing and kneading operation. The required ingredients suchas cocoa, milk powder, sugar, cocoa butter are fed after preliminary andconventional processing of the same, to the kneading and mixing devicein accurately dosed or metered quantities. Continually operating devicesof this kind can be generally heated or cooled. This first operationalstep yields a uniform starting mixture containing the ingredientsproportioned in accordance with the selected recipe. It is also possibleto extract certain undesirable admixtures from the mass during the firstmixing and kneading operation.

The starting mixture is then fed to a rolling device such as a five-rolldevice. The purpose of rolling the mixture is to obtain the requiredgrain fineness and also an intimate binding of the cocoa and the sugar.The rolling device includes coarse rolls and fine rolls; a worm conveyormust be interposed between the coarse rolls and the fine rolls torestore the rollability of the mixture. Unless such intermediate wormconveyor is used, it is necessary to let the mixture rest for about 24hours at about 50C to restore rollability thereof as the mixture becomesmore or less powderlike due to the rolling pressure and the resultingincrease in surface. Obviously, resting of the mass for about 24 hoursseriously interferes with the continuous manufacturing operation and,hence, increases the costs of the operation.

Finally, the mixture of chocolate reaches the conching or tumblingstage. Refining of the mixture is effected in conches or tumblingdevices. Many suitable types of conches are well known in the market. Inthe conches, the mixture is continuously agitated or tumbled while beingsubjected to heat. The conching operation takes about 30 to 80 hours.

The purpose of the conching or tumbling operation is to give the mass ofthe mixture a plasticized or salvelike consistency and moreover, toeffect the absolutely necessary deliquefication or dehydration of themass. It further effects a "rounding-off" of the fine cocoa and sugarcrystals and volatilization of undesirable aroma essences.

The conching or tumbling operation also serves to obtain a low viscosityconsistency of the mass of chocolate which is necessary for thefollowing processing, such as shaping of the mass to chocolate bars,etc. Lowering of the viscosity is effected by dehydration of the massduring conching as each withdrawal of one tenth of a percent of waterrepresents an increase of 1 percent of cocoa butter and thus acorrespondingly even lower viscosity. The water content must be reducedfrom two to four percent to not more than one percent of the rolledmass, or even to not more than one-half percent.

Producing chocolate by the afore-referred to device is highly timeconsuming and entails a heavy electric power consumption; it alsorequires a large investment for the required installation. To reduce theoverall costs of the manufacture of chocolate, it has been proposedfinely to granulate the raw materials prior to the mixing of thechocolate ingredients to obtain the starting mixture. The ingredientsare fed in proportions as required by the selected recipe by means of asuitable and conventional metering or dosing device such as a band typedosing device to a gas jet mill or pump in which all the ingredients aregranulated simultaneously. The resulting light fraction or accepts areseparated in a cyclone separator and mixed in a continuously operatingmixing and kneading device with liquid cocoa butter. The heavy fractionor rejects are returned to the jet mill. Nitrogen may be used as carriergas in the jet mill and the separator. The mass after leaving the mixingand kneading device is immediately subjected to an upgrading or refiningoperation. Refining or upgrading is effected by ultrasonic wavesgenerated by high frequency tube generators by pumping the mass past anultrasonic wave head.

Conches and rolling devices are thus eliminated. However, the savingsobtained by means of the previously described device are set off bysignificant disadvantages. A jet mill operates free of trouble only ifthe fat content of the material to be granulated does not exceed adefinite rather low percentage. Accordingly, the mill must be chargedwith comparatively fat poor cocoa raw material which must be firstworked in an additionally continuously operating worm press. The cocoabutter obtained by such preliminary working of the raw material is lateron returned to the mass while the same is in the kneading device.Furthermore, jet mills have a high power consumption. Moreover, the veryimportant dehydration of the mass does not adequately occur during therefining of the mass as effected by exposure to ultrasonic waves.Exposure to ultrasonic waves merely generates, in rapid sequence,pressure and pull tensions in the mass. Moreover, active oxygen isformed to a certain extent. Refining by exposure to ultrasonic wavespermits working only with small surfaces. This entails that a ratherhigh vacuum must be used to obtain an appreciable dehydration. The useof a high vacuum is not only fairly expensive but it also causes a lossof a substantial part of desirable aroma essences.

it is a broad object of the invention to retain the advantages of theaforedescribed conventional devices but to avoid the disadvantagesthereof.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a novel andimproved device for producing a mass of chocolate which eliminates theuse of expensive rolling devices and conches following the initialmixing and kneading operation thereby considerably reducing the overallproduction costs and also accelerating the completion of the production,and which furthermore assures an entirely sufficient dehydration of themass of chocolate while maintaining the pleasant, that is, desirablearoma essences and effecting a smooth, that is, salve-like consistencyof the mass. Elimination of the conches which do not continuallyoperate, permits continuous operation. Moreover, elimination of theconches results in considerable savings since customarily a substantialnumber of conches is as sociated with each mixing and kneading deviceand the energy consumption of each conche is high.

The aforepointed out objects, features and advantages and other objects,features and advantages which will be pointed out hereinafter areobtained by producing a mass of chocolate in which the first operation,namely, mixing and kneading conventional chocolate mass ingredientsproportioned in accordance with the selected recipe to obtain anintimate and substantially homogenous mixture is immediately anddirectly followed by a liquefying operation. The liquefied mixture isthereupon subjected to a combined refining, dehydration, and degasifyingoperation. The mass thus treated can be directly fed into a storage siloor other receptacle, or be directly further processed. No furtherrolling or conching operations are necessary.

According to a particularly advantageous aspect of the invention, theliquefied mass is continually and in finely distributed form conveyedbetween and along at least two coacting worms and while being soconveyed is degasified and dehydrated. It has been found to beparticularly advantageous to use meshing worms. To effect an especiallysmooth dehydration, the operation can be carried out under vacuum. Thevacuum should be a low vacuum to prevent loss of valuable aromaessences.

A device according to the invention comprises a worm type mixing andkneading device directly followed by dehydration device which, in turn,is followed by a multiple-shaft worm type conveying device includingmeans for degasifying the mass.

According to the invention degasifying may be effected by equipping thecasing of the conveying device with one or several studs or portscommunicating with the interior of the casing for withdrawing freedgases therefrom or by securing on the casing a dome extending across theentire length of the worms in the conveying device and connected withthe interior of the device through a stud or port.

In the accompanying drawing several preferred embodiments of theinvention are shown by way of illustration and not by way of limitation.

In the drawing:

FIGS. la and lb are a composite diagrammatic view, partly in section,ofa device according to the invention, FIG. la being the left-hand endof the device and FIG. lb the right-hand end in partial overlap;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic section taken on line llll of FIG. lb;and

FIG. 3 is a section similar to FIG. 2, but showing a modification of themeans for degasifying the mass of chocolate while passing through aconveyor included in the device.

Referring now to FIGS. la, lb and 2 more in detail, the exemplifieddevice comprises a two-worm mixing and kneading conveying device I ofconventional design. The required solid or liquid ingredients of themass of chocolate to be produced are fed into conveyor 1 by suitablemetering means 5 shown as conventional band type dosing devices andpipes 6 in accurately controlled proportions. The ingredients to bemixed and kneaded may be finely granulated before being fed intoconveyor 1.

The mixing and kneading conveyor is preferably equipped with heatingand/or cooling means and is provided to this end with ducts and cavities7 as is also a second conveyor 3 connected to conveyor 1 as will be morefully described hereinafter.

Treatment in mixing and kneading conveyor I produces a uniform andhomogeneous starting mixture containing the different ingredients inproportions as required by the selected recipe. This mixture isimmediately fed into a liquefying device 2 provided at the discharge endof conveyor 1. The Iiquefying device is shown as a conventional pumphaving radially disposed vanes; other conventional types of liquefierssuch as a gear pump or a screw pump may also be used.

Pump 2 is rotated at a high speed and applies shear forces to themixture therein. As a result, a liquefication of the mixture, that is, amixture which has a very low viscosity is obtained. A mixture having acomparable low viscosity could be obtained only by providing extremelylong worms in conveyor 1. Moreover, a high vacuum must be simultaneouslyapplied which is costly and also causes a loss of many componentsdesirable in this stage of the operation. Low viscosity of the mixtureis absolutely necessary as otherwise the mixture cannot be conveyed in acontinuous and finely distributed flow between and along the worms ofthe second or final conveyor 3 which is shown (Fig. 2) as having twomeshing worms 3a and is connected at its feed end (lefthand end) to thedischarge of pump 2 by conduits 20. The mass while passing throughconveyor 3 experiences degasification and dehydration and also refiningor upgrading as it occurs in a conventional conching operation.Treatment in a conveyor such as conveyor 3 takes about 20 to 30 minutes.

The finished mass when reaching the discharge end 8 of the conveyor hasstill a liquid or low viscous consistency and can now be fed directly toa storage receptacle (not shown) or means for shaping (not shown) themass, for instance in the form of chocolate bars.

The casing 21 of worm conveyor 3 is not completely filled with the massof chocolate. A filling of about twothirds capacity is customary.

Degasification may be effected via one of several ports or studs 9 onthe casing of the conveyor leading into the interior thereof.

Instead of using one or several ports or studs 9, a dome 4 can also beprovided on casing 20 as shown in Fig. 3. This dome preferably extendsalong the entire length of the casing in communication with the interiorthereof. A suitable evacuation port or stud (not shown) should bevisualized as communicating with dome 4.

The studs or ports either on the casing or on the dome should bevisualized as being connected to a suitable source of vacuum.

Treatment in worm conveyor 3 can be effected in several stages. To thisend, the ports or studs leading into the casing of conveyor 3 or intodome 4 may be connected to differently strong vacua. In any event, nohard vacuum should be used to avoid the loss of valuable aroma essenceswhich would be carried away together with sucked-off air or water vaporif a hard vacuum would be used.

The drive for conveyor 3 is diagrammatically indicated at l0 and thedrive for conveyor 1 at 12. The entire device is mounted on a suitablefoundation or bed indicated at ll.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for producing a mass of chocolate in continuous operation,said device comprising in combination:

a first worm type conveying means for mixing and kneading ingredientssuitable for producing a mass of chocolate to obtain an intimate anduniform mixture of said ingredients;

liquefying means for liquefying said mixture connected to the dischargeend of said conveying means;

a multiple-worm second conveying means for conveying the liquefiedmixture between and along the worms of said second conveying means toeffect dehydration of the mixture, said second conveying means beingconnected at its inlet end to the discharge end of the liquefying means;and

degasifying means associated with said conveyor means for degasifyingthe mixture while being conveyed along the worms thereof.

2. The device according to claim 1 wherein said liquefying meanscomprises a gear pump.

3. The device according to claim 2 wherein said liquefying meanscomprises a screw pump.

4. The device according to claim 1 wherein said liquefying meanscomprises a pump having radially disposed vanes.

5. The device according to claim I wherein said liquefying meanscomprises a mechanical mill.

6. The device according to claim I and comprising an elongate casing,said worms of the second conveying means being rotatably mounted in saidcasing parallel to the lengthwise axis thereof, and said casingincluding a port for connecting the interior of the casing to a sourceof vacuum.

7. The device according to claim I and comprising an elongate casing,said worms of the second conveying means being rotatably mounted in thecasing parallel to the lengthwise axis thereof, and a dome extending thelength of said casing on the outside thereof and in communication withthe interior of the casing, said dome having a port for connection to asource of vacuum.

8. The device according to claim I wherein the second conveying meanscomprises an elongate casing. at least two worms of the conveying meansbeing in mesh and rotatably supported in said casing in mutuallyparallel relationship to each other and the casing.

1. A device for producing a mass of chocolate in continuous operation,said device comprising in combination: a first worm type conveying meansfor mixing and kneading ingredients suitable for producing a mass ofchocolate to obtain an intimate and uniform mixture of said ingredients;liquefying means for liquefying said mixture connected to the dischargeend of said conveying means; a multiple-worm second conveying means forconveying the liquefied mixture between and along the worms of saidsecond conveying means to effect dehydration of the mixture, said secondconveying means being connected at its inlet end to the discharge end ofthe liquefying means; and degasifying means associated with saidconveyor means for degasifying the mixture while being conveyed alongthe worms thereof.
 2. The device according to claim 1 wherein saidliquefying means comprises a gear pump.
 3. The device according to claim2 wherein said liquefying means comprises a screw pump.
 4. The deviceaccording to claim 1 wherein said liquefying means comprises a pumphaving radially disposed vanes.
 5. The device according to claim 1wherein said liquefying means comprises a mechanical mill.
 6. The deviceaccording to claim 1 and comprising an elongate casing, said worms ofthe second conveying means being rotatably mounted in said casingparallel to the lengthwise axis thereof, and said casing including aport for connecting the interior of the casing to a source of vacuum. 7.The device according to claim 1 and comprising an elongate casing, saidworms of the second conveying means being rotatably mounted in thecasing parallel to the lengthwise axis thereof, and a dome extending thelength of said casing on the outside thereof and in communication withthe interior of the casing, said dome having a port for connection to asource of vacuum.
 8. The device according to claim 1 wherein the secondconveying means comprises an elongate casing, at least two worms of theconveying means being in mesh and rotatably supported in said casing inmutually parallel relationship to each other and the casing.